One for a friday arvo:

The environmentalists (who aren't so bad - I might even be one) are saying that certain plastics take 1000's of years to break down naturally.

Well, I've been to graveyards where even after a few hundred years the stones aren't in very good shape.

Enter the Tombplastic. A tombstone (headstone, gravestone, whatever) made of said plastic that lasts 1000's of years.

No doubt it will be cheaper too.

And come in many interesting colours.

And be easy to shape and engrave and whatnot.

And be easier to carry around (although perhaps not - you tried to lift anything made of _solid_ plastic? It can be a pretty dense material).

The only ones I can find on the 'net are novelty, but I think this has a real application.

;)
-- raintonr, Apr 22 2005

Wasn't this a song by Shaggy?

Anyways, I like the idea of "Caskets by Tupperware."
-- AfroAssault, Apr 22 2005


Sorry, I've got to bone this. Why would anyone want a memorial that lasts thousands of years? Are you a pharoah or something? Waste of resources.
-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Apr 22 2005


They might get burned along with plastic sifted from dumps when the oil crunch hits.
-- FarmerJohn, Apr 22 2005


//"Caskets by Tupperware."//

Don't forget to burp it.
-- Machiavelli, Apr 22 2005


The corpse or the lid?
-- AfroAssault, Apr 22 2005


Probably best to do both. Don't forget to put a burp cloth over your shoulder when you're burping the corpse.
-- Machiavelli, Apr 22 2005


A plastic tombstome would probably still be 'kinda sorta there' after 1,000 years, but that doesn't mean it would be in legible condition. Some stone markers actually remain in legible condition for a very long time; the trade-off with stone is between using a type of stone that can be readily carved but will also be eroded by rain, or stone which will last better but is harder to carve.
-- supercat, Apr 22 2005


I'd like my gravestone to be solid plastic. Possibly have a heavy metal weight imbedded somewhere in the middle, so hundreds of years after I died my tombstone would be a testament to how cool plastics deform when under a constant force for long periods of time.
-- Cheekio, Apr 22 2005


Make it out of a recyclable plastic, and... oh wait, that kind of defeats the object, doesn't it?

Most plastics suffer from degradation in UV - even UV resistant ones might have difficulties with 1,000 years of exposure, I'm guessing.
-- moomintroll, Apr 22 2005


[AWOL] //Waste of resources.// I wonder - is the energy used in quarrying, cutting, polishing, engraving and transporting a 200lb block of environmentally-friendly granite less than that contained in a 50lb block of plastic? Dunno, but I bet it's close.

But fishbone anyway - no graceful weathering, no mellow wind-worn edges, no lichen, no class. (I mean the idea, not you, AWOL).
-- Basepair, Apr 22 2005


[basepair] I agree with you entirely on the energy input into granite - I'm against memorials of this sort entirely. Plant a tree, do some good.
-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Apr 23 2005


[Mach] - That is the most revolting thing I have heard.
-- wagster, Apr 23 2005


Didn't we go through having plastic headstones in the graveyard playground idea a while back?
-- hidden truths, Apr 23 2005


tombtacular!
-- benfrost, Apr 24 2005



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